This week, we talk about the past six months, covering the games we’ve loved, the games we’ve hated, and the games we don’t really care about either way.

Up first, Jonathan talks about how smart that Cracked.com writer was to call for a free-to-play model in the competitive gaming market, as Team Fortress 2, Tribes, and WoW all go the way of the microtransaction.  He also does a terrible job of describing Solar 2, although in fairness, it’s not an easy game to describe.  Jonathan’s also surprised to find that Yakuza 4 is more RPG than Beat-Em-Up, though perhaps he shouldn’t be.

Alex talks about Trenched, the latest release from Double Fine.  Given that Trenched is a variation on the tower defense genre, and Alex has little love for the tower defense genre, his verdict may surprise you (or not).  He’s also picked up the Captain America table for Pinball FX2, which he’s been very pleased with.  Finally, Alex went sales bin diving and came up with a copy of Daisenryaku VII Exceed, a modern military tactical strategy game for the PS2.

Sam played some games, but left no notes to remind me what they were when writing the show notes, so those’ll have to be a surprise.

Interesting tidbits from the topic:

• Sam gets it wrong about Portal 2 and L.A. Noire.
• Jonathan puts a bunch of weird indie games on his “Great” list.
• Sam praises a couple of sequels.
• Alex thinks Child of Eden is pretty, but not much more.
• Everybody’s less than impressed with Duke Nukem Forever.

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This week, we’ve got Meg from the Brilliant Gameologists on the show!  She’ll be giving us her Top Ten games.  But first….

The great podcast WoW exodus continues, as Meg reveals that she’s recently cancelled her account.  Also, despite having two 360s now, Donkey Kong Country Returns has been occupying most of her time.

Alex tries, and fails, to garner sympathy for the amount of work he’s doing.  His addiction to AssBro is growing.  He also gave Your Shape Fitness a try, but was disappointed by the lack of AI Fat Asses.

Apparently Sam has contracted Jonathan’s con curse, as his recent experience at DunDraCon may indicate.  He’s also fallen hard for Dragon Age, thanks to his bad luck, and chucked Dark Sector into the “Get Rid of It” pile.

Jonathan talks a bit about iOS casual gaming in the form of Cut the Rope and Fruit Ninja.  He also received Dead or Alive Paradise from GameFly, which turns out to be a game that entirely fails to appeal to gamers and perverts alike.

Meg gets into her Top Ten, and there are some surprising choices in there.  Check it out, and if you want a peek at the list before listening to it, head to the forums.

Finally, we announce a new contest.  Send us an email, and you’ll have a chance to pick an item from our stack of random crap.

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We cover some headlines this week, but first, we talk about Alex’s time in the Nyquil rehab center.

After that, Jonathan talks about some XBL games he’s picked up.  Stacking is an interesting, fairly entertaining adventure game, but he needs some more time with it before giving a rating.  He’s also picked up Galaga Legions and Space Invaders Infinity Gene, both updates to the classic arcade games.  Galaga is a little less insane than Space Invaders.  Take that as you will.  Jonathan’s been in rehab of his own, as well, and has cancelled his World of Warcraft account.

Sam has placed a number of pre-orders: Bulletstorm, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and Duke! Nukem! Forever!: Balls! of! Steel! Edition! Inappropriate comparisons fly over that last title.  He’s also picked up his Marvel vs. Capcom 3 pre-order.  It’s pretty, button-mashy entertainment.  He also started and then immediately returned Enslaved: Odyssey into the West.  He’s also gotten rid of Nier, and hasn’t had much luck advancing Dragon Age: Origins along.

Alex has played Battlestations: Pacific, and had no luck getting an online game going.  Dead Space 2 ran aground on similar issues.  R.U.S.E. is consequently seeing a revival on Alex’s gaming schedule.

In the headlines, we revisit a few stories, try to skip a couple stories, and take about some new stuff:

• A followup to the FoxNews article: A response from Carol Lieberman, and one more.
• Rocksteady confirms Batman: Arkham City will be ‘single-player only’
• Kevin Butler Tweet Accidently Shares PS3 Root Key
• The Smithsonian is planning a video game exhibition.
• New Assassin’s Creed To Be Announced In May; AC: Brotherhood Sells 6.5M Units
• PSA: PlayStation Network content must be re-purchased on Xperia Play

Name That Game was…. forgotten.  Next week, folks!

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Welcome back, folks!  We’ve got headline talk this week.

First though, Jonathan picked up a PS2 based on Alex’s recommendation, as well as Dead Space and Resonance of Fate.  He’s found Dead Space to be fairly ho-hum, one chapter in, and he hates a character who apparently has some sort of satisfying death.  He also talks a bit about WoW’s late game content, with a note that he’ll be quitting soon.  Really.

Sam rejoices over finishing Fable 3, and talks a bit about Dead Space 2.  He’s also got hold of a new laptop, so perhaps PC games other than WoW will make appearances in the show again, and we get a brief explanation of the Burning Rome teaser, and a recommendation to watch Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

Alex puts off game talk in favor of revising his “Best Thing of 2010 That Wasn’t a Game” pick, and giving his take on what his contest entry would have looked like assuming he was allowed to enter.

Our headlines this week cover the gamut:

• Sony announces the “Next Generation Portable”
• Rumors say Sony might start using serial keys for PS3 games
• Hell moves ever closer to freezing over as Duke Nukem gets a release date
• The Russian media tries to blame Modern Warfare 2 for terrorism
• California tries to slap warning labels on video games
• OnLive announces their new unlimited gaming pack

Before Name That Game, Jonathan almost announces a new contest, but doesn’t quite, and then Sam unleashes game show hell on his cohorts.  It gets ugly.

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We start off the new year with a guest!  Brandon, one of Sam’s buddies from his hometown, joins us to discuss games, and share his Top Ten.

First off, though, Jonathan tries to justify his WoW addiction, shares his Christmas good fortune, and defends Donkey Kong Country Returns.

Alex talks about how bad he is at AssBro, and how bad Tron Evolution: The Video Game is.

Brandon’s been playing Super Meat Boy, Super Street Fighter 4, and The Void.  He’s a man who enjoys self-inflicted pain.

Sam’s been plowing through Red Dead Redemption despite his complaints, ditto Nier, and he’s disappointed he didn’t try Dead Space sooner.

Brandon’s Top Ten continues his masochistic themes with some classics, and some classically hardcore games.

Finally, we announce the first Way of the Contest!  Send us in your ideas for a game based on the events of 2010.  The one we like best will receive a copy of Forbidden Island, a cooperative board game from Matt Leacock of Pandemic fame.  There are more details on our forums.

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It’s 2 A.M.  The episode is taking forever to upload. These notes will be short.

Sam’s has issues with Red Dead, and is enjoying Braid.

Jonathan has issues with Gran Turismo 5, and is enjoying World of Warcraft.

Alex has issues with Tropico 3, and is enjoying his new Kinect.

All three have issues with Webkinz.

Matthew Crippen has issues with the government, and is enjoying his new-found freedom from prosecution.

In Name That Game, Sam and Jonathan have issues with identifying Genesis games, and Alex is enjoying tormenting his co-hosts with games they’ve never heard of.

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